The present invention relates to chairs and, more particularly, to an arm assembly for a chair which includes a height adjustment mechanism.
Presently a wide variety of office chairs with adjustment features are available. The chairs are adjustable to the particular user or to the task being undertaken. Such chairs may include seat height adjustment mechanisms, back height adjustment mechanisms and adjustable armrests. In many such chairs, the vertical positioning of the armrests is fixed with respect to the seat and, hence, the user. Various proposals have been made for providing height adjustment of the arm assemblies. An example of one such proposal may be found in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,995 entitled ARM HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM FOR A CHAIR, which issued on Aug. 28, 1990 to Teppo et al. The arm height adjustment mechanism disclosed therein permits synchronized, simultaneous adjustment of the armrests with respect to their supports and the chair seat.
Other mechanisms heretofore available provide limited, independent height adjustment of each armrest. A need exists, however, for an arm height adjustment mechanism and arm assembly which provides reliable operation at reduced cost and which readily adapts the chair arm height to the vast majority of expected users and tasks.